You want competition, you got it: Panini gets MLBPA license

Topps is coming to the end of the second year of its exclusivity with an MLB license.

Upper Deck had an MLBPA license in 2010, but no MLB license, which meant they could only make cards with players only, no logos or team names. UD didn't follow those rules and got sued.

So, for some time there was just one.

Topps.

The longtime card company stood alone creating a variety of products that were received differently by the collectors. Regardless if a collector liked or disliked a set, it seemed there was one thing they all wanted – competition.

Most people understand competition is good in a business marketplace. It doesn't allow companies to get complacent. I'm not saying this is what Topps has done. It has put out some really good products this year such as Gypsy Queen.

Still, we wanted more.

Consumers wanted options.

On Thursday, we got one step closer, although we're not entirely there. MLBPA gave a license to Panini America to create baseball cards. The catch? Just like Upper Deck, they cannot use team names and logos because those are with the MLB license.

MLB: "The real winners today are the millions of fans who collect baseball cards."

I probably shouldn't speak for the majority of card collectors, so I will only speak for myself.

I didn't view the settlement between MLB and UD as a victory for me. I didn't feel as though I won anything.

I'm missing out.

Competition is usually a good thing in any marketplace. Competition sparks creativity, hard work and, sometimes, shady manuevers. We've seen plenty of that over the years in the card industry. (View details of the settlement here)

Even with that, I always felt having a variety of products to choose from was always a good thing. I was someone who bought mostly Upper Deck. This was never a slight at Topps, but I would much rather get the chance to pull a Derek Jeter-type of card from UD and found myself gravitating toward them in recent years.

Sets such as Masterpieces, Goudey and Sweet Spot helped their brand. I enjoyed these cards and loved ripping open packs. Upper Deck's pictures were always top notch and they consistently gave collectors a good flagship set.

In 2010, I have bought one product of a hobby box. Just one. I purchased two products of Ultimate. And, this is the first time I have ever bought a hobby box of a high-end product. I actually never even considered buying Topps Sterling or Triple Threads. When it comes to high end product, Upper Deck was clearly the better of the card companies.

I would like for MLB to explain how the million of fans who collect basecall cards won today. Do we get to see some of the money that was collected from Upper Deck in settlement? Does this mean that licenses will be cheaper so Topps could charge less on product?

I didn't really think so.

Despite certain practices Upper Deck employed over the years, I am definitely sad to see their current run of baseball cards come to an end.

I own three Derek Jeter autograph cards and can happily say they are from Upper Deck.

Make sure you get the last bit of Upper Deck you can.
2009 Star Signatures

2009 Ultimate Collection

2010 Upper Deck Series 1

Upper Deck with the stranglehold

Upper Deck just announced on its Facebook page (at least that's where I read it) that they signed New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada to an exclusive deal for memorabilia and autograph cards.

In the last week, UD signed Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte, already adding them to the stable of stars, including Derek Jeter.

Even though UD does not have an MLB license for next year, they are signing some of the biggest Yankees stars, which is a big deal. These four guys are the core for the current Yankees fans. They watched them (at least three of the four) win five World Series Championships.

Even middle-of-the-road guys like Pettitte and Posada aren't cheap when their cards come out.

UD isn't taking the no-license thingy lying down and I like it.

C'mon Upper Deck! Show MLB the huge mistake it made and how despite not having an MLB license, you're still going to create great cards.

I like Upper Deck. I like Topps.

But, what I really like is competition.

This is getting good.